Amorphous steels are extremely hard materials and have presented considerable problems in shear-cutting due to excessive blade wear. One approach to overcoming these problems has been to soften the amorphous steel by heating prior to cutting. Australian Pat. No. 567,987 discloses examples of this approach. Another technique that has been explored is to locally heat the strip and apply a tensile parting force, thereby eliminating the need for blades. U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,636 -- Taub et al discloses examples of this technique. While certain of these techniques are feasible, they are relatively expensive and awkward to apply in view of their requirement for heating and other special procedures and equipment. She most practical and straightforward approach to solving the problem of blade wear is to provide an improved blade design having greater wear resistance.